


Stories B-Sides

by l_ares



Category: Walk on Water (Manhwa)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Humor, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:20:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23899636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/l_ares/pseuds/l_ares
Summary: A series of alternate universe scenarios.
Relationships: Chang Liu/Ed Talbot, Ed Talbot/Youyu Cho
Comments: 16
Kudos: 18





	1. I Said, Don't Taunt Me

**Author's Note:**

> *No new rape elements, some references to canon content*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *** NON-CON *** In which Chang is a woman, Ed is a man, and the events of Walk on Water happen as is – but I did not rewrite the retaliatory rape (??????) or whatever it was. You can imagine that Fem!Chang looks like the call girl that Chang was with.

Ed walked cautiously through the lobby. The luxury high-rise he’d been called to for his house-call seemed like the kind of place that someone who could easily pay his $5,000 nightly fee would live. 

He wondered about who his client was and what they were going to be like. He’d narrowly avoided having to sleep with his client from the night before because Chang had seen them and interrupted. 

She’d been accompanied by a tall, handsome man in a suit – someone she’d bought for the night, she’d shamelessly told him. 

Somehow, he resented it. That there were people buying the services they were selling, despite the fact that he himself had chosen to sell his body. It was a complex feeling tainted with dark emotions – frustration, exhaustion, jealousy. He didn’t want to dwell on it further. 

The elevator opened to the 31st floor and he walked to the first door in the hallway. The room gave off a cool and barren feeling, despite the luxurious decor and well kept antiques lining the hallway. 

He rang the doorbell. 

It was a few moments before the door opened and his eyes fell on the petite but extremely beautiful Chinese woman before him. _Chang._

Ed turned on his heel to leave. 

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“I already paid though?”

“Get a refund.” 

“Hmm, I happen to know a police officer looking for a promotion, I guess he’d be real pleased to hear about this little prostitution business your friend's got set up.” 

Ed clenched his fist and walked inside. 

“What do you want?” 

Chang walked wordlessly into her kitchen and began pulling out boxes from within the fridge. Various Chinese dishes from Shesing’s luxury restaurant were placed neatly on to a plate before finding their way into the microwave. 

She turned to look at him. 

“Lancer’s the type of man who makes money, huh?” 

“What?” 

“You sell your asses and he takes a cut, good business model for him.” 

“And you’re successful.” 

The microwaved announced the food was ready and Chang carried it all to the living room before setting it on the table with two extra place settings. 

“Eat.” She said before heading back to the kitchen to grab herself a beer. 

“Do you want anything?”

“No.” 

Chang returned to the seat and began to eat, elegantly. Ed had always noticed that about her. She looked as if she deeply enjoyed her food, eating slowly and savoring each bite. 

Ed wasn’t in the mood to eat. 

Before long, Chang had finished her meal and walked over to the coffee machine. She took some beans out of her cupboard, grinding them shortly before setting them into the espresso machine. 

“What did you want to talk about?” Ed was getting impatient. He wasn’t in the mood to spend time with her and he certainly wasn’t here to sleep with her. 

Chang was silent as she waited for her coffee. 

“Is this a joke?” 

“Who spends $5,000 on a night as a joke?” 

“What?” 

Chang picked up her coffee cup and looked over at Ed, “You told me to buy you so I did, got a problem with that?” 

“You’re crazy.” 

Chang laughed before walking back over to the coffee table. 

“Come work for me. Starting Monday. And stop hanging out with that prostitute with the kid. One year and I’ll make your debt disappear.” 

“What if I don’t want to?”

“It’s disgusting to see you selling yourself to other people.” 

“So it’s fine for you to buy me?” 

Chang was silent. 

“Do you like selling yourself to men?” 

Ed grimaced. 

“Do I look like I like it?” 

Chang looked over at him before setting down her coffee. Ed had gotten up to walk away from her. She followed shortly behind. 

“I wouldn’t know, you looked ecstatic in that video.” 

Something about the statement sent Ed’s anger through the roof. Chang’s hubris and arrogance cut him in all of the wrong ways and he didn’t want to listen to her anymore. 

He turned to her and closed in to where she was standing a few feet away before pushing her into the wall. 

“Oh, well I guess you haven’t heard but I’m pretty good at screwing, I could screw you.” 

Ed towered over her as she leaned backwards into the wall. She looked him over and laughed as if he was making some sort of joke. He grabbed the glasses on her face and threw them to the ground. 

Her face hardened. 

"Pick them up." 

She looked from her glasses to his face and then at her glasses again before bending forward to pick up her glasses. Ed kicked them against the wall before she could get to them. 

"Why? I thought you take them off when you're going to have sex." 

It was something she'd told him a long time ago, and he took sick pleasure in watching fearsome anger flash across her face. 

“What are you doing? Stop.” 

Ed’s veins pumped with adrenaline at the sight of her figure backed against the wall. He shoved one hand against the back of the wall and another against her waist, looking for the buckle of her belt so he could undo it. 

“I said get on your knees.” 

His voice was gruff as he found the buckle, undid it roughly, and reached for the button of her pants. It snapped off easily and his hand traced the elastic band of her underwear. 

“Don’t taunt me.” 

She looked shaken and the blood rushing to her face gave Ed a sense of power he hadn’t felt before. 

“Why, you feeling turned on?”

He shoved his hand into her underwear, quickly finding her clitoris with two fingers before rubbing it roughly. 

Chang gasped in anger and grabbed the hand that was in her underwear, slapping it aside. She used all of her weight to push back against Ed, pushing him into the wall and biting his clavicle. She shook slightly as tears slid down her face despite the frustration and anger coloring her face. 

“I said don’t taunt me.” 

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hated writing this. Does it give you anxiety? It :) gives :) me :) mad :) anxiety :). 
> 
> For one, how is anyone expected to get out of this situation, honestly I'm scared of Ed.
> 
> I couldn't write the rest of this because I'm not a fucking heathen and I also would hate to see fem!Chang getting on top of Ed after this. Garbage. I high-key feel like someone I've loved doing this to me would make me feel extremely hurt and NOT in the mood for sex but whatever. Added tears because women are significantly more likely to cry as a biological reaction to stressful situations.
> 
> Excerpt, for receipts: 
> 
> 차갑게 피가 어는 느낌에 입술이 딱딱하게 굳었다. "나 박는 것도 기가 막히게 잘해."
> 
> 도발에 챙이 눈빛을 달리했다. 
> 
> "궁금하면 너도 뚫어 줄까."
> 
> 놈의 얼굴이 잔뜩 일그러졌다. 
> 
> "뭐?" 
> 
> "엎드려."
> 
> 얼빠진 표정으로 나를 내려다 보던 놈이 찬 웃음을 터트렸다. 내 꼴이 우습다는 것을 서슴없이 가르쳐 주려는 듯이 과장된 웃음을 흘리 며 비스듬히 문에 기대었던 몸을 떼었다. 나는 녀석의 눈을 똑바로 보며 입고 있던 외투를 바닥으로 집어 던졌다. 넥타이를 끄 르고 위쪽 단추를 풀어 셔츠를 바닥으로 팽개 쳤 다. 
> 
> "엎드 리라고." 
> 
> "그만 하…."
> 
> 안경을 벗겨서 바닥으로 던져 버렸다. 입꼬리에 매달려 있던 웃음 기가 없어졌다. 챙의 시선이 바닥으로 아무렇게나 던져진 안경에 닿았다. 
> 
> "주워."
> 
> 안경에서 내게로 시선을 옮긴 챙이 표정없이 나를 응시했다. 놈의 입가 근육이 단단하게 굳는 것이 느껴졌다. 힘 주어 나를 노려 보 고는 챙은 허리를 숙여 안경을 향해 손을 뻗었다. 안경을 벽을 향해 걷어차 버렸다. 무시 무시하게 화난 얼굴로 챙은 고개를 들었다. 
> 
> "왜, 그 짓 할 때 너는 안경 안 쓴다 며."
> 
> 챙은 코웃음조차 치지 않았다. 챙의 바지에 손을 뻗었다. 벨트를 풀고, 버클을 뜯어 내듯 잡아 당겼다. 
> 
> "자극하지 마라." 
> 
> 지퍼를 내리던 손을 챙의 손이 잡아 챘다. 손목이 비 틀려 아팠지 만, 나를 던져 버리고 싶은 초조 한 표정을 보며 남은 손을 마저 뻗었 다. 보란 듯이 바지 안에 밀어 넣었던 셔츠 자락을 위로 끌 렀다. 옆구 리에 땀에 젖은 손이 끈적하게 들러 붙자 챙의 눈이 싸늘 해졌다. 그 눈을 노려 보며 손을 더 밀었다. 등허리를 덮은 셔츠 자락을 끌 어 올렸다. 챙의 입에서 욕설이 짓이겨졌다. 실금처럼 깨어진 챙의 표정을 보자 저열 한 희열이 느껴졌다. 
> 
> 그 순간, 뒷머리가 채였다. 어깨가 억눌려 등 뒤의 침대 위로 밀쳐졌다. 주먹을 뻗는 느낌에 눈을 질끈 감았 다.


	2. Exclude Us From This Narrative, Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Chang and Ed are Asian American actors looking over the Walk on Water script and debating the merits of acting in the film.

Ed sat on the couch examining the newest script sent by his agent. It was… something. He was used to it. The roles for Asian American actors were rarely gratifying or fulfilling, and largely something else… Infuriating? He couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong with it. 

“Liu…” Ed called Chang quietly. “Did you take a look at the newest script? They want you too, right?” 

Chang grimaced. “Oh that…” 

Chang was better with his words than Ed was. It was a sticking point for Ed, something he respected about Chang and something he was mildly envious of. 

Ed wanted to hear Chang’s opinion on it to see if he could help articulate what felt _so_ wrong. 

“I’m kind of mad about it.” 

“Oh?”

“Well we grew up together like two of the characters and I feel like we’ve fought plenty.” 

Chang laughed. 

They’d fought plenty. Growing up in the projects meant that fighting was almost a pastime. He hadn’t grown past it himself until well into high school, when theater had become more important. He was lucky. 

“It’s not funny.” 

Chang took a deep breath before he talked again. 

“It’s not.” He grimaced again as he thought. “It feels personal. It’s describing _us_ but we’re caricatures.” 

Ed’s expression lit up. 

“That’s a good way to put it.” Ed smiled at Chang. He could always count on him to say the things he felt like he couldn’t explain. “It describes something similar to us – you can almost recognize us, and then it uses us in the service of something weird.” 

“In the service of neoliberalism.” 

Chang grinned and Ed rolled his eyes. Ed had heard Chang pick apart endless scripts this way, and he still didn’t know what neoliberalism meant. 

“Think about it. My character gives you a debt and that’s a horrific assault against your personhood.” 

“Right.”

“But then, the main lead sells your body for a profit, tells you you were just a two-bit whore he pimped out, but comes back and _loves_ you.” 

“Hmm…” 

Chang spoke again before Ed could finish digesting. 

“According to that logic, it’s bad to exploit labor, but exploiting sexual labor is dignified.” 

“What?” 

“If I give you a debt and you have to pay me every month, it’s unthinkable mental, emotional, and financial strain." Chang grinned at Ed before continuing. "But, if he makes 100 times the profit you were paid off of a video of you having sex and ruins your social life and career while he’s at it – it’s fair game on the free market. He was just giving you a job.” 

“But I guess my character consents to the porn.” 

“If you have a really simplistic view of consent, I guess? After the first one, you don’t want to do another one but they go to considerable lengths to “convince” you. And then after topping, you don’t want to bottom, but they “convince” you. And then after you bottom, he goes full on romeo pimp and suggests you make porn with other men after your characters have sex.” 

“That is a little uncomfortable, huh.” 

“Uncomfortable? But, he _loves_ you.” 

Chang smirked, and Ed sighed. 

“I guess the question is, can someone who has sold your sex for a profit come back and claim they value your body and heart how a lover does.” 

“Right."

Chang paused as if he was thinking about it, deeply. Ed knew this pause and knew Chang wasn't thinking at all. 

"I don’t know.” Chang grinned a sly grin. “But it sounds like a _conflict of interests_ to me.” 

“God, stop being such a dad.” 

Chang laughed. It was a boyish laugh that made Ed’s ears perk up. Chang laughed like the whole world was full of inside jokes that only he understood. Sometimes he explained them to Ed, sometimes he didn’t. 

Ed put his mind back on the still unresolved nagging feeling he'd gotten from the script. 

“But, if I had to say, I think the Chinese mafia bit is...weirder.” 

Ed thought about what Chang might mean, but he had had some thoughts on this himself. 

“Our characters grew up together, but the script thinks the bond would break over one bad debt.” 

“Mm.” Chang looked off into the distance silently. 

“People die of overdoses. People get shot. Real stuff happens. A debt barely registers.” 

Ed nodded at himself absentmindedly. He could think of a handful of people he’d lost over the years. Whether it was to petty gang wars between children or drug addictions. 

"If your character had really wanted the money, I would have been paying up in a big way before 5 years ever passed." 

Chang laughed. "Yeah, debt bondage... doesn't look like that at all."

Ed spoke up again, “It always feels weird when something tries to capture our experience, but cleans it up in the places that matter. Oh, it’s poverty, but that just means he isn’t able to buy himself nice things.”

“But what it really means is we don’t have enough money for food, and our friends turn to gangs because they have no parents or communities.” 

“Are you talking about us?” Ed laughed ruefully. “But yeah, a debt doesn’t register when all you’ve known is worse.” 

Chang moved from where he was sitting to put his head in Ed’s lap and snuggle up in the warmth of his body. This was his simple happiness in a world that had been less than kind more than a little bit frequently.

“When you've known worse and when you got through those things together.”

He thought about what might have happened if Ed had never convinced him to come to his theater club, of who he might be if he hadn’t realized that he, too, was allowed to have single-minded passion for something other than making money and breaking out of the poverty he’d known his whole life. 

“I hope they don’t cast a white man for the lead role.” 

It was Ed’s admission, but at this, both Chang and Ed burst into laughter. 

“They’re _definitely_ casting a white man for the lead role.”

“Noooooo.” Ed screamed playfully as he looked dramatically off into the distance, his hands questioning the heavens about the atrocities committed against him. “I don’t wanna be saved by a white man.” 

“But you have to, you are a damsel in Chinatown distress. The only man who can save you is a white one.” 

They laughed more before becoming quiet. Ed sighed wistfully. 

“We were talking about how he sold my character’s body…” Ed ran his fingers absentmindedly through Chang’s hair. “And you’re right, the script never deals with that.” 

Chang looked at Ed with a certain glint in his eyes. “Well, actually…” 

Ed rolled his eyes. Chang’s well actually was something he was very familiar with and he braced himself for the weird mix of caustic and completely lame that was to come. 

Chang continued. “He admits he was living his life wrong. Porn was bad all along. Sex workers be damned, the script agrees with its villain, making gay porn is no way to live your life ! Is that not enough _change_ for you, Yeowoon?” 

Ed raised an eyebrow and looked off at an errant spot on the ceiling as he thought about it. 

“Well… he admits to “persuading” people to do more porn than they’re comfortable with. He’s kind of proud of how he can manipulate people into selling themselves. He makes a porno about a real life rapist… and casts himself as the rapist, and then performs violent rape on the set.” 

A shiver ran down Ed’s spine as he thought about it. 

“And he tells my character to sleep with a known violent actor… in a bid to create distance? Or to test his own feelings? Reading that part was weird. He says it bothered him more than he expected but he didn’t think about how it would hurt me before he did it?” 

He thought about the rest of the script. 

“And then he says sorry and sells his porn company, but what the hell?” 

Ed’s blood pressure had risen significantly and he could feel a vein popping in his temple. Forget white saviors, how was this a savior at all? How did the script think anyone could look away from all of this on the basis of a relationship of a few months?

Chang snickered. “But my character _rapes_ you.” He paused. “In a bid to save you from prostitution, I should add.” 

Ed grimaced. 

“There’s too much violence on all sides.”

“The violence is supposed to distract.” 

“What does that mean?” Ed looked down at Chang, who was still lying in Ed’s lap with his eyes closed. 

“The script has to solve its horrible male lead. He’s the happily-ever-after but there’s precious little salvageable about him.” 

“Mmm.”

“Why bother with a long and protracted character arc, when you can just throw in a rape to tie up everything nicely.” Chang paused. His face betrayed a cynical but exhausted expression. “And, isn’t that easy? The rapey Chinaman from the Chinese mafia. Never had anything human in him at all.” 

A long silence followed. The line about the Chinese mafia men not being worthy of being thought of as human was an actual line in the script. It had bothered Ed, but the xenophobia was just beginning to sink in. 

“God, we should burn this script.” 

“I was thinking a little more vengeance.” 

It was Ed’s turn to be intrigued. “Oh?”

“More along the lines of...” Chang shot Ed a playful smirk. “Undermining it.” 

“How?” 

“With our _delicious_ chemistry.” 

Ed laughed. Chang using stupid words like delicious always did him in. And delicious chemistry wasn’t particularly hard for them, after such a long friendship and years of dating. He pulled Chang’s cheeks down to make a funny expression on his face. 

“We take over the narrative. This will be a story about two Asian American characters, with a weird and unrelatable cardboard cut-out pornman propped in between them.”

Ed sighed. Chang was exactly this flavor of petty. 

“So we’re going to act in it?”

“We _have_ to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol. 
> 
> Also, one of my friends had a dream in which Chang was a passionate theater actor, so I thought I'd give it more life.
> 
> *Additional Note*: The way Walk on Water portrays the rape scene is seriously, seriously problematic. I've seen people write off Ed's actions in escalating a non-sexual situation as calling Chang's bluff, not thinking he wanted it, etc. What Ed does is unprovoked sexual (battery) assault. The way he does it is also likely the felony and not the misdemeanor version of it. 
> 
> California law (for instance) defines sexual battery as touching the intimate parts of another person, against the person’s will, for the purposes of sexual gratification, arousal, or abuse. The crime may be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony, and carries a penalty of up to 4 years in jail or prison.
> 
> Felony examples:
> 
> Holding someone down while you unbutton their pants and put your hand inside their underwear,
> 
> ^ which is what Ed does. 
> 
> Does this discount the rape which follows? Nnn idk. I would never question how a woman responds to being sexually assaulted. Its mentally and emotionally debilitating / destabilizing. Is Ed pure garbage in this scene? Yes, absolutely. Are y'all garbage for erasing the assault or ignoring it? Yes, absolutely.
> 
> Also, the portrayal of the Chinese mafia was odd... I guess. Very clean and like in a vacuum away from the actual streets. If you'd like to learn more about the Chinese mafia in NY, a fun place to start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFtFO1hg2OI


	3. We Need Men with Bats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which established relationship Chang and Ed deal with hate crimes against Asians (especially in the time of Corona). 
> 
> ***Loosely referencing real life incident which everyone should know and research about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ0YtDW-D9I&t=1s ***

Ed peered at his phone angrily, clutching the device as veins popped in his hand. “80 Year Old Asian Grandma, Set on Fire in Brooklyn.” 

“Liu!” he yelled over at Chang who was in his home office, pouring over some papers. “Liu, did you hear what they did to the grandma?” 

Chang walked over to the doorway so he could see Ed. “What grandma?” 

“There was a little grandma and she was taking a walk.” Ed’s face was calm but his eyes betrayed a deep anger. “They set her on fire using kerosene.”

“Who’s they?” 

“I don’t know.” Clenched teeth betraying his anger. “White guys I guess.” 

Chang sighed. 

“How did you find out?” 

Normally, if these kinds of incidents happened they found their way to his ear before Ed’s. It wasn’t necessarily a part of his job, but everyone he associated with made sure to keep their neighborhoods clean. But, if he thought about it, Brooklyn was a bit far from both Flushing and Manhattan. 

“I saw it online.” 

Chang laughed. “Well you do love your grandmas, what are you going to do about it.” 

Ed sat in silence. Chang’s joke was in bad taste but he was going to let it go. 

“I’m going to ask you to do something about it.” 

Though Ed’s face betrayed no specific emotion, Chang could tell that Ed was likely ready to kill a man himself. He laughed. 

“Roger that.” 

Chang’s affirmative response knocked Ed out of his anger-fueled trance and he blinked in surprise. 

“Wait, what are you going to do about it?” 

“Nothing worse than setting an old lady on fire, so no need for any concern from _you_.” 

…

Later that night, Ed sat in the dark reading up on the incident and figuring out what was being done. The community had planned a protest and he was going to be there, but he felt he needed to do more. 

Though he felt nervous about it, he decided to reach out to a few friends and acquaintances to ask them to join him at the protest. 

“Hey, there’s going to be a protest for the old lady that was burned in a hate crime. Wanted to know if you’d come through with me.” 

No sooner had he sent the text that the first response came flashing in. 

**_Derek:_ **Down. 

Ed chuckled. That was exactly what he was expecting. 

More responses started rolling in. 

**_Ash:_ **Let me know when to take off work. 

**_Youyu:_ **What? In Brooklyn? Did you ask Chang to do something? I’ll bring friends, see you. 

**_Ryan:_ **I’ll bring food. And Cecil. 

Ed smiled, but a tear flowed from his eye in relief. Though he wasn’t sure why, he had expected everyone to be noncommittal and uninterested. And despite knowing that this grandma reminded him of Ling Bao, he hadn’t realized just how strongly he felt about this. 

A new response flashed in. 

**_Glenn:_ ** “What’s the protest for again?”  
**_Ed:_ ** “An 82-year old Asian woman was set on fire in a hate crime.”   
**_Glenn:_ ** “Did they confirm it was a hate crime?”  
**_Ed:_ ** “What?”  
**_Glenn:_ ** “Like are the police investigating it as a hate crime.”  
**_Ed:_ ** “No. They never do.”  
**_Glenn:_ ** “Oh, so it could have just been a random attack.”  
**_Ed:_ ** “They set her on fire…”  
**_Glenn:_ **“Not everything has to be political you know?” 

Ed’s hand balled into a tight and uncomfortable fist. 

“Liu!!!” 

He had meant to call over Chang but it had come out louder and angrier than he’d expected. 

Chang rushed to their bedroom door in response to find Ed seething. Small tears were pooled at the corner of his eyes and his face looked uncharacteristically red. 

“What? What happened?” 

Ed lunged forward and into the mattress. His voice followed, slightly shaken and almost completely muffled by the blanket his face was shoved in. 

“I need to ask you to beat someone with a bat.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My platform is teeny tiny but I'm using it to remind you guys that racism in America exists in a big way. With BLM going on, it's great that we're centering the narrative around communities that systemically experience the worst of it, but let's not pretend that Asians are somehow exempt or not targeted. 
> 
> The hate crime featured in this story is a real one that happened 2ish weeks ago. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ0YtDW-D9I&t=1s 
> 
> The Fung Bros (man remember when they seemed like dumb dudes who liked to eat like damn David am impressed with ur passion) made a good video about this.
> 
> Also, maybe some people might hate this because I feature Glenn McQueen as *that* asshole, but it's pretty canon. 
> 
> "I never thought about Asians but he was attractive to me." 
> 
> "Asians have no butt hair." 
> 
> "He looked like a teenager." 
> 
> "He looked abstinent." 
> 
> "Asians don't usually apply for porn jobs." 
> 
> Um...
> 
> Also Ed could def take Glenn but like it's more fun to have Chang do it.
> 
> https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-two-asian-americas read more, educate yourselves, don't let ppl shit garbage fires on asian america :)  
> https://www.thenation.com/article/society/chinatown-coronavirus-new-york/tnamp/


	4. Much Ado About Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Youyu wakes up possessed by the spirit of a reader who read Walk on Water in our universe. He makes a mad dash to save Chang and Ed from tragedy, but instead finds that things are not quite as they seem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter deals with Walk on Water, only. Heavy spoilers.

Youyu burst into the room, kicking the door ajar and subsequently choking on air as he gasped wildly to catch his breath. He'd run like a madman competing for a bid in the Olympics, his way to their Flushing office guided by sheer muscle memory and vague intuition. 

"Chang! DON'T DO IT. DOn'T BuY YEoWOON!" 

Chang and Ed stared blankly at him. Ed was perched lazily on the chair that seated Chang, his chin resting on Chang's shoulder as they discussed some papers. 

Youyu got the feeling he was witnessing something he shouldn't be, but the urgency of his message took priority. 

Chang and Ed, for their parts, looked slightly amused. 

"Don't give yourself an asthma attack." Chang smirked. "Yeowoon, you'll find a paper bag in those to-go packaging samples the owner sent. Hand him one so he can catch his breath."

Ed walked wordlessly over to the neatly arranged boxes, and immediately found the samples that Chang was talking about. He chose an indistinct paper bag and handed it to Youyu before walking back over to Chang's desk, this time sitting on it and examining Youyu as he took shallow breaths.

Youyu observed the situation before him, slightly confused. When he'd woken this morning, in an unfamiliar bed and an unfamiliar room, he'd panicked slightly, looking through papers and text messages for clues. He was Youyu... the name sounded familiar – and then he'd realized it. 

Youyu, the successor of the New York City's Chinese mafia – a mildly significant side character in Walk on Water, a novel he'd finished reading before he'd fallen asleep the night before. 

And with the realization came a greater sense of panic. He'd run to the living room and asked his mother his age. She'd looked him over with a slight temper coloring her face. "You're 15." And mumbling to herself, "God, now the kid is doing drugs. Who does he take after. No one in this family is like this."

And with that Youyu had run to the office. If he was 15, then Ed was 24 and Chang was 29, which meant that Ed was either already selling himself, or was going to sell himself soon. 

Which brought him to the present. Gasping for air as Ed and Chang waited. 

The atmosphere between them wasn't what he expected. His memory of the original work suggested that they should be cold and at odds with each other, Chang duplicitously pushing Ed away and keeping him close, while Ed tried to make sense of their relationship. These two looked different though. Their bodies were unguarded, and Ed was leaning over, his body turned towards Chang. They looked at ease with each other, like comfortable old friends... which... they were...? Youyu was confused. 

"Why are you guys being so friendly?" 

Ed raised an eyebrow in Youyu's direction. "Because we are friends...?" 

Chang cleared his throat. "Real good friends." 

Ed laughed. "Don't tease him." 

"I'm teasing you." Chang smiled an easy smile at Ed.

Youyu was getting annoyed. These two were flirting in front of him. Fine. The odd one out would take his leave. 

_Fuck and I tried to help them._

His indignation was soaring. 

Ed turned his gaze back in Youyu's direction. "We're sorry... Don't leave." 

Chang chuckled. "Yeah, tell us more about me buying Yeowoon. When did he put himself up for sale?" 

"Are you sure?" 

"Mhm." Ed smiled at him. 

"Will you make fun of me?" 

"Depends on the type of nonsense you come up with." 

"Liu, be nice." Ed walked around the desk and pulled up a chair, signaling for Youyu to come sit with them. 

"Ok, so you know how Yeowoon had a debt?" 

Ed looked puzzled. "The one for my ankle surgery and rehabilitation?" 

"Yeah." 

"Yeah, I remember that." 

"And Chang gave you a loan to pay it off right?" 

Chang and Ed looked at each other, puzzled. "Where did you hear that?" 

"It...it was in my dream." 

Chang burst into laughter. "So wait, you're telling me I bought Yeowoon in your dream and that's why you rushed into this office and started yelling first thing in the morning?"

"Don't make fun of him. He's being serious, let's hear him out." Ed chastised Chang gently, giving his attention back to a slightly reddening Youyu. 

"So he didn't give you a loan?" 

"No, why would I take out a personal loan for that? I negotiated the payment with them and they discounted it heavily and gave me a payment plan." 

"What? Hospitals do that?" 

Ed shrugged. "Yeah, if you negotiate with them." 

"Negotiate intelligently, I might add." Chang grinned and Youyu suspected that Ed had not got by on simple negotiations. 

But now, his brain was doing all new calculations. There was no debt, these two were getting along... 

"So you're not going to shoot a porno to pay back your debt to Chang?" 

"Wait, Youyu, I'm not following, can you start at the top and tell me what happened?" 

Youyu was silent, pulling together the facts of the novel. 

"Okay, well you guys lived next to each other and were really close before Chang started working for my dad." 

"Mhm." 

"And then, Chang moved and you were studying to be an actor."

"Mhm."

"But then you got hit by a truck and had to get surgery." 

"Yep, sounds right." 

"And then Chang lost his mind and gave your grandpa a high interest loan and repossessed his laundry shop, and made you pay the loan back for years." 

"The fuck?" 

Chang and Ed looked at each other before bursting into laughter. 

"Why did he lose his mind?"

"Cuz he loved you too much."

At this, they howled with laughter. 

"Liu is unstable," Ed wheezed between laughs. "Not stupid."

"Yeah... Basically." Chang nodded in agreement.

"God I should watch out, god forbid you shackle me to you." 

"You're already shackled to me." 

Youyu was seeing math equations as he tried to figure out what exactly he was witnessing. 

"So then Yeowoon sells himself because he needs to pay back the money?" Chang egged Youyu on. 

"Yeah, because he has no choice..." 

"Wow Yeowoon, I didn't know you were so dignified. Paying back an impossible personal loan." 

"I'm not, I would've defaulted on your ass and ran away to Australia so fast." 

"I would chase you to Australia."

"Yeah sounds like a nice vacation. I want to see the Opera House."

"I'll buy us tickets for around New Years?" 

Youyu cleared his throat. _These two assholes are in their own little world._

"I was saying..."

"Oh yeah sorry, you were saying..." 

"So then Yeowoon did a bunch of gay pornos."

" _GAY pornos?"_

Chang laughed so hard it looked maniacal. 

"Wait, you've got to tell me more." 

"Stop!" 

"No, I need to know." Chang looked over at Youyu. "So did you watch the pornos?" 

Youyu felt there was some danger to answering this question affirmatively. He had technically seen it all, from a weirdly omniscient perspective, and his character had ostensibly watched all of Ed's pornos devoutly, but that was not a sleeping tiger he was going to wake today, no sir. 

"No sir, no way. I would never watch something that exploits my dear friend." 

Chang looked slyly into Youyu's eyes, and Youyu thought that now might be a good time to run away. 

_He's onto Youyu. He knows about Youyu's crush. RUN YOUyU._

"So, then what happened?" Ed interrupted their eye fight. 

"Well then, the porno became public and Ed lost his job so he started escorting." 

"Wow Liu." Ed teased him playfully, "Can't believe you pushed me into escorting." 

Chang smiled sleazily at Ed. "I can't help myself, I just wanna have all your nights." 

Youyu spoke before he thought. "I'm sorry, but are y'all two fucking?" 

Ed glanced worriedly at Chang as Chang shot Youyu a threatening look. 

"Sorry... I just uh... The conversation was going that direction and you work for my dad so you should calm... I'll just see myself out." 

"No, enlighten me."

Youyu glanced nervously at Chang. He wanted to wake up the next day, hopefully in his own universe. 

"Finish telling the story before you leave." 

Youyu took a deep breath before articulating the most concise summary he'd ever made in his life. 

"Yeowoon loses his shit with you after feeling chained to the debt for years. Falls in love with the porn director but then the dude abandons him when the pornos come out. He starts escorting and then you buy him and try to make him work with you but he hates you so he unzips your pants and grabs your dick and then you rape him and he hates you more. After that you try to apologize but we all know you suck at apologies so he ends up with the white man hhshshfdfdhfshs, I'm going to excuse myself." 

"No, stay." 

Chang's voice was authoritative, and Youyu got the sense it was best to comply. 

"Yeowoon, you'd grab my dick despite all that?" 

Ed shoved Chang's shoulder, choking back laughter. 

"That's the only part you heard???"

"I don't know, everything else was trash." 

"Ahem." Youyu cleared his throat to indicate that he was, indeed, still in the room. 

"Ah, that's right." Chang looked to Ed. "Can you give Youyu a blanket and have him lie down for the rest of the afternoon. I think he needs some rest." 

Ed looked at Youyu. "Yeah, I think you should rest. I think you'll feel better after a nice nap." 

Youyu fumed. "Why Are You GuyS TREAtING ME LIKE I'M DeluSIONAL?" 

Chang smirked at Youyu. "Are you not?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had fun poking fun at the absurd plot points of Walk on Water a bit.  
> I think I'm going to continue this series of drabbles / shorts with just a bunch of unrelated bits here and there. Leave me comments to encourage me and make my heart happy thank u love u. 
> 
> BTW are these two fucking? I'll leave that up for you to decide.


	5. I Was Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Chang are in an established relationship. You can think of this as being in the same world as Slowdance but I haven't decided.

It was a muggy summer afternoon, but Ed wasn’t quite aware of that. The temperature in Chang’s bedroom – well his bedroom, and Chang’s bedroom – was perfectly chill and not too dry. He wondered about the kind of air conditioning that could manage to keep just a small amount of humidity in the room so that it was cool, but the air didn’t bite the inside of his nasal passages. 

He paused. His brain was always thinking about really dumb stuff. 

The movie on his screen flickered to night time as a small, multi-legged Disney creature made his way up into a forest clearing, flipping through _The Ugly Duckling_ by himself. 

The door opened as Chang let himself in. Beads of sweat clung to his pale skin, and Ed paused the movie to look. 

“What are you watching?” Chang asked uninterestedly as he toweled down and got ready to shower. 

“You.” 

Chang chuckled. 

“Guess I meant what _were_ you watching?” 

“Oh, Lilo and Stitch.” 

Chang paused as he dried the sweat in his hair. 

“Oh.” 

“Have you seen it?” Ed paused. He’d been expecting a more lighthearted response. Maybe he had expected Chang to make fun of him for watching a children’s movie, or maybe he’d expected Chang not to know about it. “It’s a good movie, it’s about–” 

“Family.” Chang finished Ed’s sentence for him. 

_Ah._

He’d broached the topic accidentally, again. It was difficult for Ed to remember that Chang’s wounds around his childhood were real. He hid it so well that they’d never been a factor for them, but now that Ed knew, Chang seemed more upfront when something upset him, too. 

“Have you seen it?” 

Chang was silent, staring off into the distance, as if he wasn’t quite in the conversation. 

“Hmm. Yes. A little.” The response was absent-minded. “I didn’t finish it.”

A soft smile appeared on Chang’s lips. 

“I stopped at the scene of Stitch going into the forest.” 

Ed looked at his screen and back at Chang. “Funny, that’s the exact part I’m rewatching…” 

“I’m gonna shower.” 

And with that, Chang wordlessly closed the bathroom door behind him, and the quiet hum of the shower followed close behind. 

Ed hit the play button. 

The computer showed Stitch climbing into a forest clearing and opening the book to the page where the swan family played happily amongst themselves. He looked over to the duckling on the next page. 

_“I-I’m.”_ Stitch had difficulty with the new language of humans. _“I’m lost.”_

He looked up into the night sky. _“I’m lost.”_

The bathroom door opened and Chang stepped out dressed in a towel. When Ed had moved in, he’d noticed how Chang always wore bathrobes, but soon enough that had stopped and Chang took most opportunities to hang out around Ed without clothes on. 

Ed looked up at Chang, his upper body dripping slightly with water, his own face wet with tears that had begun streaming down his face without warning. 

“What?” Chang approached Ed carefully. “Why are you crying?” 

Ed shut his laptop and tossed it aside before crawling over to Chang. 

“Because you feel _lost?_ ” He choked over the words. 

“It’s no big deal.” Chang cupped Ed’s face in his hands, lowering his face before licking Ed’s tears. “I just didn’t want to watch more of the movie.” 

Ed closed his eyes. 

“But it’s a happy ending. He gets his family.” 

“I know.” Chang chuckled slightly. “And I didn’t.” 

At this Ed pulled Chang close, hugging him tightly. 

“What are you talking about Hyung, I’m your family.” 

“What?” 

Ed held Chang tighter. 

“I said what I said.” 

Chang lowered Ed on to the bed, kissing the tears on his face and leaving a light trail of kisses down his neck. 

Ed looked up at him, puzzled. 

“What are you doing?” 

Chang shrugged. “I wanna make out.” 

“What?” 

“Cuz you’re my family.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By family he means husband. lmfao
> 
> I was driving to like paris baguette (which tbh has terrible pastries wtF i'm disappointed), and on my way back this fic just hit me. A friend and I had been talking about how a lot of movies are name dropped in wow and at some point Ed and Cecil have a scene where Lilo and Stitch comes up. TBH ironic in my book considering what Lilo and Stitch is about and comparing with the plot which like has Ed legit pretend to be someone else's family without regard for their feelings or ostracization. Man~ everything is about Ed. 
> 
> Anyway, if you're wondering why I seem like I hate the plot but keep writing these fics it's cuz I love the characters and feel so much for them. In America, it's damn near impossible to find plots about Asian experience and what that's like, so I got so Fucking attached. Part of the reason that I read manga is because the plots don't tend to be so eurocentric, so when I saw a plot about asians in america u bet ur ass I was excited and u also bet ur ass i was fucking disappointed. ANyway, it's fine. I can write too. 
> 
> But also, Lilo and Stitch is SUCH a good movie and if you're considering rewatching anything in the quarantine, Lilo and Stitch should be on your list. As should maybe Tarzan. I'm not huge on Disney movies tho lol. It was just an Opportunity presented by the canon, to be lampooned further.


	6. RPG Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ed is a goat and Chang feeds him a pretzel.

Ed munched on dried grass. He was a goat, one of the few species of animals on his planet that could digest and glean nutrition from difficult to break down fibers and other organic material. Though this made his breed prized for their milk and meat, Ed lived relatively freely, on a farm where no one cared much to tend to the animals. They reproduced themselves, roamed themselves, and existed basically on their own. Perhaps it was an abandoned farm operation – but that didn’t matter to Ed who existed in the vast and limitless universe, taking in every sunrise and sunset, chewing on hay, and marveling at existence. 

Goats, as all animals, were deeply connected to the rhythms of nature, humming along in an infinite dance of birth and life and death, befriending the odd birds and rabbits in their neighborhood and steering clear of the cow, because it was a bit moody. 

That was until the bipedal came by. 

If there was such a thing as romantic love known to goats, it was likely reserved for other goats, but it was not so for Ed, when he saw the first bipedal animal he’d ever seen in his life. The man wore a polished track suit and a backpack and seemed to be wandering aimlessly in the vastness, lost in the same way Ed fancied himself. 

Forgetting all caution, he galloped up to the man in his goatly way, wanting to know more. The man looked down at him before smirking. 

Ed fell in love. 

The man pet Ed slightly on the head before pulling, out of his pocket, a dried pretzel. 

“Here, do you eat this?” 

Ed didn’t know what it was, but he was going to eat it. He crunched it into his mouth and enjoyed the new flavors. The saltiness sent shivers down his spine, and the satisfying crunch rang through his ears. 

_ More. _

He jumped up at the man in excitement. 

_ More! More!  _

_ “More!” _

Ed was shocked at his own voice. He’d never heard himself sound like this before. He looked over at the man, who looked equally shocked, and then down at himself where he saw two hands identical to the ones the bipedal had. 

An eternity of silence passed between them before the man took his hand and touched Ed’s new face and burst into laughter. 

“I would feed the shapeshifting goat.” 

Ed hid his face in panic. He’d spent an eternity as a goat. He’d munched away at grass, slept, woken, ran around… 

“Or maybe this was some sort of magic item pretzel. Will you evolve again if you eat more?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol guys like I don't do drugs, I swear, but I had this dream in which Ed was a goat and Chang fed him a pretzel and it was like legit only 5 seconds of a dream but ... I think I'm going to continue this. Ed is actually Capricorn or some sort of goat deity. There's also a Greek god AU but that'll come later. A friend is playing Hades and like really enjoying it so I'm being influenced. No spoilers on the Greek god AU tho but like it'll be fun. 
> 
> Also there's this series of BL manga (well a couple honestly) of magical animal transformation stories. I think the anthology had the word kemono in it but I'm forgetting and then there's Mauri to Ryuu which I fucking loved. 
> 
> I think I had the dream because I was reading a book about the chemistry of food and it started with a chapter on milk and I learned about ruminants (cows, bulls, lambs, sheep, goats) and my fav are goats. S o ... I love this more than I should and feel inspired to draw a goat Ed gijinka
> 
> sorry at the person who wanted cute ed and chang fluff... i only sell crack


	7. RPG Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed is not a goat anymore.

Ed lay on the grass, bloated and uncomfortable from all of the pretzels he'd eaten. He'd ended up eating the whole bag to test the bipedal's theory, but really more because he liked how he was still feeding him hand-to-mouth despite Ed now having hands himself. At first, the theory seemed to work. After the second pretzel, his tail and ears, which had not yet disappeared, poofed away. After the third, he felt like he could articulate himself better in the bipedal's tongue. After that, it seemed like the pretzels were doing something, but he wasn't quite sure what. 

"Nnnnnn..." Ed rolled over.

The bipedal laughed as he watched Ed roll around. "You're going to get grass stains on them." 

He had gotten dressed in a spare set of shorts and a plain white t-shirt that the man had been carrying in his backpack. 

"Too many..." Ed closed his eyes. "Too many... pretzels..." 

With his eyes closed, he finally had a moment to think about his present circumstances. He was no longer... a goat. How it had happened, he would never know. What he was going to do now, he didn't know. 

From behind his closed eyes, he could feel the light of the sun dimming slightly. It was going to set soon. 

"Where going from here?" 

He felt a pat on his head as the man rubbed his hair slightly. 

"Home." 

Where was home? Was there somewhere that was not the farm? Would he come back to visit? Ed had a million questions and didn't know where to start. 

"Want to come with?" 

Ed looked over at the bipedal so fast that something in his new human neck caught and caused a sharp and ringing pain all over his head and neck. Ed grimaced in pain. This new body had the weirdest constraints and he couldn't say he was a fan. 

The man, having noticed what happened, rubbed the area connecting his head to his neck lightly. Ed nuzzled into the touch. 

"I'll be your..." Ed tried to think of a word. He liked this new man and he wanted to be with him, and live with him, and eat with him, and be pet by him. "...pet!" 

"Pffft." The man burst into laughter, choking slightly as if Ed had something extremely funny. "You're not a goat anymore." 

The man paused before continuing. 

"Let's go with brother, you can be my brother." 

"Bro-" The meaning of the word registered quietly into Ed's head as new words in the human language seemed to do. "Brother!" He launched himself at the man, hugging him tightly. 

"Okay, okay, you're not a goat anymore..." But the man hugged him back and let Ed have his moment. 

...

The city was bright, and it turned out that it wasn't so far from his farm judging by how quickly they traveled to it in what his new brother called his car. He marveled at the large stone structures and the number of bipedals there were in this world. He'd had no idea.

They soon entered one of the large stones and were taken up the stone in a large box. Ed was terrified and almost urinated on himself, but brother seemed calm and when he noticed, he squeezed Ed's hand for a second. And just like that the box opened and they entered a hollow that had some interesting items inside. Ed spotted something that looked soft and invited him to jump on it, and other things, but mostly the thing he wanted to jump on. 

"Let's give you a name." Brother had set his backpack down and was stripping his clothes. Ed blushed but he also continued looking. "My name is Chang Liu. Liu. You can call me whatever you want though." 

Ed marveled at Brother Liu's sweaty skin. It looked like it could also taste salty, like the pretzels, and he wanted to try licking it. 

"Let's name you..." Liu paused. "Ed... Sounds like a name that fits someone who used to be a goat." 

"Ed..." Ed thought about it for a second. He vaguely knew the concept of names and felt like he had had one at the farm. But he didn't care. He was Ed now. He launched himself at Liu, licking a line from his clavicle to his ear. 

Liu caught him in his arms and rolled his eyes before laughing again. "You're not a goat anymore." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmfao is this going anywhere? or are they just gonna live a cute ex-goat and chinese gangster life??? They might lmfao. Ed's an animal. I think in the next chapter Youyu appears and he both likes Ed and doesn't like Ed monopolizing Chang. There's gonna be a surprise. He might turn back into a goat, its not the pretzels that turned him human tho. KEKEKE THIS IS THE WORST FANFICTION EVER and I'M GOING TO MAKE IT MORE WORSE


	8. The Shortest Story Ever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol... a YouTube ad inspired this one.

Ed sat and stared at his bank account. He'd never seen the amount rise higher than a couple hundred dollars. 

He'd opened the account after graduating high school and he'd expected to save slowly over time. 

Now, he was looking at a hefty sum of $850,000, all sitting in his bank account _after_ the payment of his emergency bills and surgery. 

He'd been hit by a semi-truck owned by a transportation agency, and despite having walked into the street without looking, the accident had been deemed the drivers fault -- because in the wise, socialist land of the United States of America, pedestrian accidents are always the drivers fault (and because he was in a crosswalk). 

The agency's auto-insurer had paid out, and now Ed was rich -- albeit slightly handicapped by a grievously injured ankle. 

The end. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭😆😆😆😆😆🙄🙄🙄🙄
> 
> Me, despite all my b(ii)g brained thoughts, forgot that auto-injury claims exist and the reason shit like wow doesn't happen is because auto-accidents involving pedestrians get paid out to pedestrians like legit all of the time. 
> 
> Driving away from an accident is a federal felony and u will go to jail for long time so most people would rather ... not... especially since a pedestrian injury would cause a hold up and have witnesses anyway.


	9. Lunar New Year's Fortunes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haha Ed and Chang fluff.

“Yeowoon…” Chang hovered over Ed’s shoulder, planting a soft kiss on the skin exposed by his crew neck t-shirt. 

“HuSH,” Ed was focused intently on a set of cards laid out before him. His brows were knit as he looked over each one. 

“What are you doing?” 

When no answer came, Chang plopped his head into Ed’s lap, closing his eyes as he relaxed into the soft Friday morning. He was off from work because it was the Lunar Year. Apparently, partaking in crime wasn’t really advised, even for criminals. He smirked. 

“You should watch out this year.” 

“Hmm?” 

“I’m staring at the fortune I pulled for you and this Wheel of Fortune card keeps stressing me out.” 

“Oh? But you’re the one with horrid luck?” 

“The wheel turns whichever way. It can take you to great heights or crush you. I think I’m more pissed that this wheel clearly seems like it’s going to take you to great heights.” Ed sighed. It was just like Chang to have good luck on top of already being an asshole.

“And the rest of your cards seem good, too. 7 of Pentacles says the things you’ve put effort into until now have become stable enough to grow without your input. The Chariot tells you to balance your ego but charge into your pursuits. Temperance tells you to come from a place of gentleness and moderation. But it’s useless to tell you that…”

“I want to charge into a pursuit right now…”

“Shut up.” 

“No…” 

Chang lifted himself up off of Ed’s lap and tackled him into the couch. 

“Forget the fortunes. Focus on me.” 

Ed laughed as the kisses tickled down his neck. 

“You impatient asshole.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ your friendly writer here. I don’t know how many people are still actively reading, but I got hit with that divine inspiration to write for Lunar New Year and so here I am. And for everyone who read to this part, a pick-a-character Lunar New Year 2021 fortune! 
> 
> If you want to pull a fortune, before scrolling down, pick one of the following characters: Chang Liu, Park Yeowoon, Glenn Mcqueen. 
> 
> Chang Liu: For my people who picked the Chang Liu pile you got the High Priestess, Five of Pentacles, Knight of Wands, Wheel of Fortune, and Two of Cups. Like Chang himself, you picked the Wheel of Fortune, but your surrounding cards are different. A simple reading is that if you face moments this year in which you feel abandoned, left out in the cold, or exposed to poverty, you should rely on your own intuition, feminine qualities such as nurturing, gentleness, and magnetizing what you need to you, and a fiery, passionate spirit to get through these moments. The Wheel of Fortune will turn in your favor. There are high chances of starting a serious new love relationship, or marriage!
> 
> Park Yeowoon: You pulled Queen of Pentacles, Seven of Cups, Eight of Wands, Eight of Swords, Seven of Wands, and the Lovers. Haha... This one is funny because this set has some very Ed qualities. You will have material abundance if you’re able to be calm and hospitable. Don’t get confused by too many choices that present themselves in any arena. You should know on a deeper level what it is that you want. Things will move quickly -- lots of passionate energy. Stand up for what you believe in and don’t be blinded by anxieties or circumstances. Finally, The Lovers card means you also have a chance of developing a serious new love relationship, or advancing one that already exists <3.
> 
> Glenn McQueen: Nine of Cups, Two of Pentacles, Three of Pentacles, Eight of Cups, Six of Cups. You guys have great wish fulfillment, but you must learn to balance things in all arenas – whether this is about your wishes against the wishes of others’, work vs play, etc. The balance card is the most important for you. Three of Pentacles says that you will do well in endeavors that involve studying and learning, and the Eight of Pentacles tells you that it is time to leave behind things that have been comfortable to you to learn more and expand your horizons. You guys also have a love card, this time a Six of Cups, which suggests someone from your past coming back, apologies, amends, and a sweet nostalgic love. This doesn’t necessarily mean an ex, it could mean someone from past lives :). 
> 
> So that was all folks. Hope you enjoyed my pop back in from still in quarantine land :). 


End file.
